SCOTUS conservatives signal readiness to curb late-arriving mail ballots

The Supreme Court's conservative majority on Monday appeared poised to overturn state laws from Mississippi and other U.S. states that allow for the counting of mail-in ballots received after Election Day — a major case that could upend voting laws for millions of Americans just months before the 2026 midterm elections.

At issue is a Mississippi voting law that allows the state to count mail-in ballots that are received up to five days after the election, so long as they are postmarked by or before Election Day. 

President Donald Trump has focused on mail-in voting during his second White House term, and has argued that such laws undermine voter confidence. Similar laws are currently on the books for at least 13 states and the District of Columbia, in a sign of the wide-ranging nature of the case. 

During roughly two hours of oral arguments Monday, conservative justices appeared sympathetic to the argument made by the Trump administration's lawyer, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, who noted that the Mississippi law and similar voting laws in other states could erode voter trust in election results.

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Justice Samuel Alito pointed to concerns that "confidence in election outcomes can be seriously undermined" when results are delayed, which was echoed later by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

"If the apparent winner the morning after the election ends up losing due to late arriving ballots, charges of a rigged election could explode," Kavanaugh noted. 

The case comes as Trump has targeted mail-in voting efforts in his second presidential term. He previously signed an executive order seeking to end mail-in ballots in federal elections, with which several GOP-led states have complied.

That action was separate from the current Supreme Court appeal, however, which centered on the Republican National Committee's lawsuit brought against Mississippi over its mail-in voting statutes, enacted after the COVID-19 pandemic. The law allows mail-in voting ballots to be received up to five days after the election.

Mississippi officials sought to defend their law against questions from conservative justices regarding a "slippery slope," and other hypothetical questions raised by conservative justices, including questions centered on early voting, and votes sent by U.S. service members stationed overseas.

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"If history teaches anything," Justice Neil Gorsuch noted, "[it is that] as soon as anything is allowed, it will happen."

Gorsuch pressed lawyers on various hypothetical questions, including how far states could go in pushing their own deadlines for accepting mail-in ballots, should the Supreme Court side with Mississippi in the case.

 "If we were to rule against you, is there anything that would limit a state from allowing a receipt by election officials up until the day of the next Congress?" Gorsuch asked at one point during arguments.

Paul Clement, who presented arguments for the Republican Party and Libertarian voters, suggested that a high court ruling for Mississippi would open the door to "limitless" options. 

"Maybe the next state can figure out a way to have an election without anybody even receiving anything, I don’t know," Clement said. "That seems to me to be a large reason why Election Day should mean ‘Election Day.’" 

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The high court's consideration of the case comes amid a long-standing legal tug-of-war over how much control states should have over their voting regulations, including in elections involving both federal and local candidates.

It comes as justices are weighing other high-stakes election cases this year, including the use of race to draw congressional voting districts, and a federal law restricting the amount of money that political parties can spend in coordination with candidates for Congress and president. 

Lawyers for Mississippi told the court that an "'election' is the conclusive choice of an officer...  So the federal Election-Day statutes require only that the voters cast their ballots by Election Day."

"The election has then occurred, even if election officials do not receive all ballots by that day."

The high court is expected to rule on the states' counting of mail-in ballots by June.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.